Driver gets back his license

Harness driver Eric Ledford was relicensed by the New Jersey Racing Commission yesterday. The panel acted upon the early termination of Ledford's criminal probation. He had pleaded guilty last April to one count of possession of a controlled substance.

Ledford had been arrested in the drivers' room at the Meadowlands in March 2006 on charges connected to possession of illegal, performance-enhancing drugs administered to horses that raced under the name of trainer Seldon Ledford, Eric's father.

In April 2006, Eric Ledford was suspended for 10 years, six months and fined $12,000 by the New Jersey Racing Commission for conduct deterimental to racing. In March 2007, upon appeal, Ledford ended up with a year's probation and $9,000 fine from the commission. The following month, in the related criminal case, a Monmouth County judge imposed a one-year probation and $15,000 fine on the reinsman.

The New Jersey Racing Commission also had suspended and fined Seldon Ledford, stable employees Ryan and Ardena Dailey, and veterinarian John Witmer in the case. The U.S. Trotting Association announced Eric Ledford's relicensing on its Web site. There was no further information on his father, the Daileys, or Witmer.

Ledford won the Hambletonian, standardbred racing's most prestigious event, in 2002, and was among the leading drivers at the Big M when arrested. He was taken into custody after raids by the New Jersey State Police at a farm where Seldon Ledford kept his horses and the homes of the Daileys and Witmer. The police said the raids netted the performance-boosting medications.

In his last full season of competition, 2005, Eric Ledford won $5,526,285 in purse money to rank ninth among North American harness drivers, according to USTA statistics. In that year his biggest victories came in the Berry's Creek Pace final, Cane Pace final, Jugette final and Matron Stakes final.

Ledford's return to racing was expected to occur in a few days. No doubt, in his view, he not only has gotten back his license, but his life.